|
| A | B
- C | D - E | F
- G | H - I | J
- K - L - M - N - O |
| P
| Q | R | S | T
- U - V - W - X - Y - Z |
A
| Alpha |
Alpha is the test period during which the product is complete
and usable in a test environment but not necessarily bug-free. It is the final chance to get verification from
customers that the tradeoffs made in the final development stage are coherent. |
| anchor |
The location of a hyperlink in a document. It can be used
to describe the link as it appears in text or graphics as well as the place that the link references. |
| API |
Application Program Interface. A set of functions that
provide application programmers with access to the full functionality of a product. |
| ASCII |
American Standard Code for Information Interchange. The
predominant character set encoding of present-day computers. The modern version uses seven bits for each character,
whereas most earlier codes (including an early version of ASCII) used fewer. The change to seven bits allowed the
inclusion of lowercase letters - a major win - but it did not provide for accented letters or any other letterforms
not used in English (such as the German sharp-S or the ae-ligature which is a letter in, for example, Norwegian). |
| Automation |
The process of writing a set
of instructions that are designed, scripted, tested, and checked in by a person, then executed by a machine, to
produce results that can be analyzed. |
B - C
| Backbone |
A high speed, high capacity pipe connecting tow or more
LANs via fiber optic cable. |
| Beta |
Beta is the test period during which the product should
be of "FCS quality" (it is complete and usable in a production environment). The purpose of the Beta
ship and test period is to test the company's ability to deliver and support the product (and not to test the product
itself). Beta also serves as a chance to get a final "vote of confidence" from a few customers to help
validate our own belief that the product is now ready for volume shipment to all customers. |
| .bmp |
Bitmap. One of the most widely used formats for storing
graphics. |
| Binary code |
Computers use electronic data. The circuit is either on
or off. This is represented with either a 1 or 0. |
| browser |
A program that interprets and displays HTML documents. |
| bug |
An unwanted and unintended property
of a program or piece of hardware, especially one that causes it to malfunction. |
| bug fix |
A change to a program or system
intended to permanently cure a bug. Often a fix for one bug inadvertently introduces new bugs,
hence the need for careful forethought and testing. |
| CGI |
Common Gateway Interface. The protocol used by Web servers
to communicate with processing programs. |
| character data type |
In computer software, any symbol that requires one byte
of storage. For example: 'C' |
| client |
The client part of a client-server
architecture. Typically, a client is an application that runs on a personal computer or workstation and relies
on a server to perform some operations. |
| Client-Server |
Testing Systems that operate in client/server environments. |
| configuration |
1. The process of setting up hardware and/or software
so that it operates in a manner consistent with the needs of a location. 2. The physical setup of a device or devices.
3. The operating characteristics of software. |
| CPU |
Central Processing Unit - the brain of a computer. |
D - E
| data type |
In programming, classification of a particular type of
information. For example: int, floating-point, char. |
| database |
A collection of information maintained in the form of
individual entries. |
| DDE |
Dynamic Data Exchange. This is a standard inter-application
communication feature used in Windows applications. DDE enables two running applications to share the same data
For more information, see your Windows documentation. |
| debug |
An attempt to determine the cause of the symptoms of malfunctions
detected by testing or by frenzied user complaints. |
| default |
System or user defined setting or value that automatically
applies to a field if users do not supply a different setting or value when submitting a new action request. |
| e-mail |
Electronic mail. |
| extranet |
Some companies give limited access to their intranets to other companies or the general public. |
| Event-Driven |
Testing event-driven processes, such
as unpredictable sequences of interrupts from input devices or sensors, or sequences of mouse clicks in a GUI environment. |
F - G
| feature |
An intended property or behavior
(as of a program). |
First Customer Ship
(FCS) |
FCS is the period which signifies entry into the final
phase of a project. At this point, the product is considered wholly complete and ready for purchase and usage by
the customers. |
Functional Freeze
(FF) |
A release reaches the Functionality
Freeze milestone when the x-functional team gives the approval that the entry criteria for FF has been met. Development
releases a build to QA for testing and verification against the entry criteria. All Must/Hopefully features to
be included in the release will have been implemented and the functionality of each feature has been either presented
in a meeting or documented. |
| gateway |
A computer system that transfers data between normally
incompatible applications or networks. A gateway reformats the data so that it is acceptable for the new network
or application before passing it on. Gateways between e-mail systems, for example, allow users on different e-mail
systems to exchange messages. |
| GIF |
Graphics Interchange Format. One of the most widely used
formats for storing complex graphics. |
| Group schema |
Schema that lets you add new groups and modify group permissions. |
| Graphical User Interface (GUI) |
Testing the front-end user interfaces
to applications which use GUI support systems and standard such as MS Windows or Motif. |
H - I
Hand-off to QA
(HQA) |
Development releases a build (final
drop) to QA for verification against milestone entry criteria of a particular segment. These builds include the
latest drafts of the online help and the HTML manuals and help. |
| hierarchy |
An Outline or Checklist or Matrix |
| home page |
The graphical door to the information a server provides.
The home page is generally a screen or window of information in which all links to related information are included. |
| HTML |
HyperText Markup Language. A subset
of Standard Generalized Markup Language (SGML), this language provides codes used to format hypertext documents.
Individual codes are used to define the hierarchy and nature of various components of a document, as well as to
specify hyperlinks. |
| HTTP |
HyperText Transfer Protocol. This is a fixed set of messages
and replies whereby a client and server communicate during a hyperlink. |
| HTTPD |
HyperText Transfer Protocol Daemon. |
| HTTPS |
HyperText Transfer Protocol, Secure. This is a variant
of HTTP used by Netscape browsers that support SSL. This allows browsers to handle secure transactions. |
| hyperlinks |
Connectors that provide access between documents. |
| integer data type |
A whole number. The following are integers: 0, 1, -124,
144457. |
| Internationalization (I18n) |
The process whereby
software, which was ordinarily designed to operate within a single language or locale, is enhanced with capabilities
and features which allow general support of a broad range of languages or locales. This usually implies the implementation
of internal functions which would have been required to implement all of the locales within the range of locales,
without committing to a particular one, as well as providing a mechanism for easily "plugging in" strings
of the different languages. Use of the "globalized" software for a specific locale will then require
relatively simple "localization" work. |
| Internet |
The Internet is the largest Internet
in the world. It is a three level hierarchy composed of
backbone networks (e.g. ARPAnet, NSFNet, MILNET), mid-level networks, and stub networks. These include commercial
(.com or .co), university (.ac or .edu) and other research networks (.org, .net) and military (.mil) networks and
span many different physical networks around the world with various protocols including the Internet Protocol. |
Internet Protocol
(IP) |
Internet Protocol. The network layer for the TCP/IP protocol suite widely
used on Ethernet networks, defined in STD 5, RFC 791. IP is a connection less, best-effort packet switching protocol.
It provides packet routing, fragmentation and re-assembly through the data link layer. |
| intranet |
Any network which provides similar
services within an organization to those provided by the Internet outside it but which is not necessarily connected
to the Internet. The commonest example is the use by a company of one or more
World-Wide Web servers on an internal TCP/IP network for distribution of information within the company.
Since about 1995, intranets have become a major growth area in corporate computing due to the availability of cheap
or free commercial browser and web server software which allows them to provide a simple, uniform hypertext interface
to many kinds of information and application programs. |
| ISDN |
Integrated Service Digital Network. It will carry multiple
digital channels carrying voice, data, text and graphics. This is the telephone companies futuristic information
superhighway. |
J - k - l - m - n - O
| JPEG |
Joint Photographic Experts Group format. A widely used
graphics file standard that compresses full-color or digital images to reduce file size. |
| LAN |
Local Area Network. Networks within
a small geographic area like an office building or a college campus. |
| license |
See fixed license, floating license, read license, write
license. |
| Localization |
Final adaptation of an internationalized
software to a specific locale. This usually requires specification of which of the broad range of capabilities
of the internationalized software are used, as well as implementing of strings in the locale language. |
| mail template |
Template that contains the fields that you need to fill
in to submit an action request using electronic mail. Templates are generated by the administrator from existing
schema using the export facility. (If you are running the client tools on a PC, your PC must be equipped with an
SMTP gateway to allow email submissions.) |
| Multi-Byte |
Some characters require more than one byte to represent.
Since one byte (8 bits) can only represent 256 unique codes, this is required for languages with large numbers
of characters. In general, a multi-byte language can use any number of bytes per character, and vary from character
to character. Language Examples: Japanese, Korean, Chinese. |
| Multi-Tasking |
The ability for one computer to run multiple programs
concurrently. |
| NCSA |
National Center for Supercomputing Applications. NCSA
produces a public domain version of the Mosaic browsing program and licenses the technology to developers. |
| Object |
A defined Windows control, such as a window, dialog box,
check box, label, grid, radio button, or command button. Applications may also contain custom objects that conform
to Windows object programming standards. |
P
| PBX |
A Private Branch eXchange is a localized digital telephone
network. All computing devices use existing use existing telephone wires to communicate. |
| Product Life Cycle |
The phases a software product goes
through (from conception to release). The development process tends to run interactively through these phases rather
than linearly. Click to see chart... |
| Product Teams |
Each product, has a Product Team. The product team is
a group of representatives for different company organizations. A typical make up would be a Product Manager, typically
one of the engineering managers; a development engineer, a QA engineer; a Pubs engineer; a Support representative;
a Marketing representative; and an Ops representative. Some Product Teams have more than one representative from
each group,and others might not have full participation from all company organizations. |
| property |
An attribute that is defined. For example, the properties
of a field include its data type, physical characteristics such as length, and whether it is required or optional. |
| project |
A user defined software test effort. Projects contain
the specific test plans, test procedures, test cases, defect information, test schedule information, and performance
data used to test software applications and track results. |
Q
| QA |
A.K.A. Quality Assurance. Also known
as Software Test. This is the group that performs methodical testing of the products developed by engineering.
They make no statement of the quality of the product and no guaranty of finding all the bugs in a product. Their
job is to take an independent approach to evaluating the product and open bugs against anything they think is broken
or not performing as a reasonable end user might expect. |
| quality |
The totality of features and characteristics
of a product or service that bear on its ability to satisfy stated or implied needs. Not to be mistaken for "degree
of excellence" or "fitness for use" which meet only part of the definition. |
| query |
A request for information from a database. There are three general methods for posing queries: |
R
| range |
Defines the upper and lower limits of acceptable values.
For example, if a field's range is -10 to 100, you will be able to enter any number from negative 10 to positive
100 inclusive. |
| real data type |
A real number (that is, a number that can contain a fractional
part). The following are floating-point numbers: 3.0, -111.5, ½, 3E-5. |
| release |
Second digit in a product number. ( this number changes in a minor or dot release) A change in the
release number signifies a Minor release, with minor additional functionality change. Maintenance releases (bug
fix releases)also fit into this category. A Minor release may or may not ship to all supported customers. (e.g.
2.1 to 2.2) |
| repository |
The component for storing software testing project information
about test planning, test execution, and defect tracking. |
| request |
A collection of information that
describes an event (transaction), such as a problem or a service request. |
| revision |
Third digit in a product number (dot dot release). A change in the revision happens whenever the
shipping product rev. Product may be rev for a specific bug fix or to fix some port related issues.(e.g. 2.1.3
to 2.1.4) No new functionality is added in a revision release. Revision releases are not proactively shipped to
customers on support. |
| router |
A device that directs traffic between two or more networks
that may or may not use the same protocol. |
S
| script |
A file of commands that represent the recorded actions
of a test procedure. |
| scroll bar |
Window element that appears when there is more information
to view than will fit in the window. You use the mouse to slide the scroll bar and shift the view area. A scroll
bar at the bottom of the window lets you move the viewing area left and right. A scroll bar on the right side of
the window lets you move the viewing area up and down. |
| selection data type |
Fields with this data type present a set of mutually exclusive
choices from which the user is to choose. The selections are displayed as checkbox items or as options on a menu. |
| server |
A computer or device on a network that manages network
resources. For example, a file server is a computer and storage device dedicated to storing files. |
| shell |
A UNIX shell is an interface between the user and the
operating system. |
| shell procedure |
A test procedure that calls or groups several other test
procedures and plays them back in sequence. |
shipping version
a.k.a shipping release |
What is available for shipping to customer. This number
is reported to the third digit (i.e. 2.1.3) This should be available as shared internal information. |
| Single-Byte |
All of the characters have a single byte representation.
Language Examples: English, French, German, Spanish, Dutch. |
| SSL |
Secure Sockets Layer. A protocol for securing data communications
on the Internet, providing encryption and authentication of transactions. |
T - u - v - w - x - y - Z
| tags |
In HTML, tags are the codes that determine the structure
of information, and its presentation, within a document. |
| TCP/IP |
Transport Control Protocol/Internet Protocol. The default
wide area network protocol that provides communication across diverse interconnected networks. |
| test |
The process of exercising a product to identify differences
between expected and actual behavior. |
| Test Assets |
Types of resources for testing projects: test plans, test
procedures, test cases, test requirement hierarchies, and software structure hierarchies. |
| Test Case |
A verification point in a test
procedure that shows whether or not a test requirement has been met. Click
to see example... |
| Test Cycle |
A test cycle will consist of the following tasks; regression,
execution of functionality & workflow tests and documentation review. It is estimated that a test cycle can
be completed in five working days. This does not mean that all regressions, or all functionality and workflow testing
will be performed for every cycle. It is the responsibility of the QA Lead and Team to ensure that the appropriate
test coverage is provided in order to meet all milestones. Testing software usually requires a cycle of tests on
each new build of the app-under-test. |
| Test Log |
A record of events that occur during playback of a test
procedure. |
| Test Procedure |
A specific sequence of steps in the app-under-test that
are required to execute a single test case or series of test cases. |
| Test Requirement |
An operation, property, or behavioral characteristic of
the app-under-test that must be verified. |
Transfer of Information
(TOI) |
An in-depth presentation, encompassing new features, troubleshooting,
or other pertinent topics of a current project. |
| UHM |
UHM, an abbreviation for Urgent, High, and Medium, refers
to the "open bug count". |
| UNIX |
|
| Upload |
Copying files from your PC to a host computer |
| URL |
Uniform Resource Locator. This is the address of a document
on the World Wide Web. The address is contained in a hyperlink, which a client interprets in order to connect to
the proper server. |
| URL encoding |
A method of assuring correct transfer and parsing of data |
| Usability |
The effectiveness, efficiency,
and satisfaction with which specified users can achieve specified goals in a particular environment. Synonymous
with "ease of use". |
| variable |
Data element that changes according to user input. In
macros, you can include variable definitions that will cause the AR System to prompt the user for certain information
when the macro executes. |
| version |
First digit in a product number (this number always changes in a
major release). A change in the version number signifies a Major release, introducing significant new functionality.
All supported customers will be shipped (or notified of) a major release. (e.g. 2.0 to 3.0) |
| virtual path |
Basically an alias, this is a login pathname, specified
by CGI, which differs from the actual, physical pathname. Typically used for security reasons. |
| virus |
A destructive program (virus) usually hidden inside of
an innocuous looking package like a game or utility program. If you bring a virus into your machine, or your host
machine, it may be destructive enough to wipe out system files. |
| WAN |
Wide Area Network is a network, which cover a large geographic
area. Internet is an example of a WAN |
| wild card |
Character that you can enter to represent other characters
in a search string. In query statements, for example, you can use wild card characters to match single characters,
strings, or characters within a range or set. For example: auto*.bat, autoexec.???, auto????.* |
| Wireless |
The nodes or computers on a wireless LAN do not hook up
to each other with wires, but communicate with microwave or infrared transmission. |
| WWW |
World Wide Web. A hypertext-based system used to find
and access Internet resources. |
| XBM |
X Bitmap graphics file format. This is the standard for
bitmap image files in the X Window system. These files contain simple, two-tone images. |
| A
| B - C | D - E | F - G | H
- I | J - K - L - M - N - O |
| P
| Q | R | S | T
- U - V - W - X - Y - Z |
|
